I travel to the San Diego area frequently and it is a great place. in addition to the downtown area, Coronado Island and sea port village (all easily reached by trolley or bus) I like to travel up to Del Mar to Torrey Pines beach. It is a GREAT walking beach and during low tide you can walk south to blacks beach or north to dog beach. There is also a great hike up Torrey Pines from the beach where you can take several paths on top and also hike back down to the beach. It is a good hike up and a good hike down - really recommend it. You can take the red bus 992 (Map: http://www.sdmts.com/mtscr/Route.aspx?r=992 ) (Public Transportation Websites: http://www.sdmts.com/ and http://sdcommute.com/ ) from the airport to the trolley station downtown for $5 and ride all day. The trolley runs to Fashion Valley and other shopping areas as well as close to sea port village where you can take the ferry to Coronado (Ferry Website: http://www.sdhe.com/coronado-ferry ). Sea port village (Website: http://www.coronadoferrylandingshops.com/ ) is a great place to walk from east downtown area all the way out past the airport - you can also rent bikes to do this. The harbor tours are nice also. Another favorite place is LaJolla. It is a very relaxing day to set up on the grass bluffs (Lajolla cove south) walk down to the tide pools or beaches. Website: http://www.carolmendelmaps.com/walking-tours/la-jolla/index.html . Great to watch the surfers at "hospital rock" . The water is just the most beautiful blue. Snorkeling in the cove, or LaJolla Shores you can rent kayaks. Always something going on there. Seal watching is always fun and occasionally whale sightings. Unfortunalty the trolley doesn't run up there but its a short drive (about 20-25 minute) from the airport north on I-5. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Summers - September 2008:
SeaWorld: Through April (Website: http://www.sandieg0.com/seaworld-san-diego-ticket-deals ) if you buy a single day ticket at $56 it is good for the rest of the year, with the exception of Memorial Day and Labor Day. This is a fun day trip. As for food, I recommend the following restaurants near downtown and the Gaslamp District. For Nachos and Beer head to the Beer Co at 602 Broadway (Website: http://thebeerco.net/ ). For Irish drinks and music go to Dublin Square Irish Pub at 554 4th Avenue (Website: http://www.dublinsquareirishpub.com/ ). If you want a great breakfast, I recommend Brian's 24 at 828 Sixth Ave (Website: http://www.brians24.com/ ). It's open 24/7. So, you can visit for lunch and dinner too. Another nice place is Magnolia Tap & Kitchen (Website: http://magnoliasd.com/ ) with great food and a good selection of drinks; it's at 6th and E Streets. Mission Beach and Pacific Beach are near downtown and connected to each other by a nice 4 mile concrete sidewalk/bikeway (Websites: http://www.sandiego.org/what-to-do/beaches/mission-beach.aspx and http://www.sandiego.org/what-to-do/beaches/pacific-beach.aspx ). When you're done hop in your car and drive five minutes to Bay Park Fish Company 4121 Ashton Street (right next to the 5) and enjoy some great sushi or fish tacos (Website: http://www.bayparkfishco.com/ ). The happy hour menu (in bar only) is pretty good. From here, it's about a 15 minute drive to the airport. Have fun in San Diego! Teri Henry - April 2007:
Great tip Marsha! I checked and you can purchase this ticket on line. So you can get the one day annual pass now even if you can't get there due to the crazy spring schedule. Elizabeth Nance - August 2008:
San Diego was one of the easiest cities I have ever been to. We non-reved into San Diego, walked out the terminal doors, and immediately took the Airport Bus 992 (992 Schedule: http://www.sdmts.com/mtscr/Route.aspx?r=992 ) to Broadway and 3rd. (Public Transportation Website: http://www.sdmts.com/ ). The Mint Thai Restaurant (Website: http://www.mintsdthai.com/ ) is a yummy place for lunch or dinner. It's downtown at 732 Fourth Avenue. The 992 route takes you past the harbor and into the heart of San Diego within 5-10 minutes. San Diego would be perfect for a day trip! You could even catch an afternoon Padres Baseball game and still be home that night.
We then took the 30 Bus north (30 Schedule: http://www.sdmts.com/mtscr/Route.aspx?r=30 ) and (Public Transportation Website: http://www.sdmts.com/ ) to Pacific Beach and got off at Grand and Mission. This trip took about 30 minutes. Then we walked one block to the Pacific Beach Boardwalk and two blocks south to reach our hostel, The Banana Bungalow. (http://www.bananabungalowsandiego.com/index.html) This hostel was right on the beach with a patio that looked over the ocean. It was a pretty huge surfer-bum scene but everyone was nice and we actually took surf lessons from one of the employees. I wouldn’t call it a “family scene” but everyone else seemed welcome and had fun. Also, there is a Trader Joes (the best grocery store ever) about 10 blocks up the road and we walked there every evening to buy supplies for dinner. We cooked in the guest kitchen and ate on the ocean-view patio. It was a good, relaxing vacation. We were pretty far from the sites but all we wanted was a beach to walk on and an ocean to swim in so this was our place. There was a really nice micro-brewery restaurant with an upstairs patio and a view of the ocean. It was only a block away and we went one night for happy hour.
Our private room had a bathroom, two bunk beds, and a fridge but there were also dorm rooms. The wireless internet was really fast and the staff was friendly. However, you might want to provide your own breakfast since the hostel only provided white bread and jam.
Also, there were several hotels and beach cottages within blocks of this hostel if the hostel scene isn’t your thing.
We have bus route maps of San Diego if anyone is interested. Gary Graham - June 2012:
Went to SAN to play a few days last week. Found a great deal at the Sheraton Spa and Marina on Harbor Island, just off the airport. Once you arrive at SAN, go to the Sheraton San Diego Spa and Marina website, and 'pre-pay' your room, in either the Marina or the Bay Towers. Prepaying the rooms saves almost $100 per night (price if you prepay is $86/nite, versus $179/nite regular rate)...all of the rooms face the water and have beautiful views of the water. We stayed in the Bay Tower, but the Marina Tower is the newer one. It is a 4-star property and really convenient to downtown, etc. TIME TO GO PLAY!!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Summers - November 2013:
We did a quick trip to visit the San Diego Zoo (Website: http://www.sandiegozoo.org/zoo/index.php ) . It's best to rent a car instead of trying to take public transportation to the zoo even though it's a short 4-5 mile drive from the airport. I used my AAA card for a $4.00 discount per ticket at the zoo. The Zoo is quite hilly. I'd recommend first taking the free 30-35 minute bus tour that takes you around the grounds. It's a double-decker bus; a lot of people prefer the top level. We managed to visit every major area in our one day visit and still get back to the airport for the return 7:00 PM flight. Of course, there's a lot to do in San Diego. So, don't feel rushed to leave.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mike Webster- January 2014
I did a day trip to enjoy the 80* weather instead of 46* and a must do is Lucha Libre taco shop. It was featured on Man vs. Food but don't worry no challenge here, just an awesome burrito. The best one is called the surfin' California burrito and has carne asada, shrimp and french fries. Here's some more on it http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60750-d1018217-Reviews-Lucha_Libre_Gourmet_Taco_Shop-San_Diego_California.html
My cousin woks at the Air and Space museum in Balboa Park and it's pretty cool. It's not the biggest but they have some good quality exhibits. http://www.sandiegoairandspace.org/
I think the posts above outline so many great things and you can do something new every time but one of our favorite things to do when we lived there was go on a harbor cruise. http://www.hornblower.com/home/sd. You can do a full harbor or they split it. It's cool to go along and see all the navy ships and even a submarine in dry dock. There is also the maritime museum which has the Star of India which is the oldest active wooden sail ship in the world, it's something to check out for sure. http://www.sdmaritime.org/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
San Diego Downtown/Gaslamp Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/San_Diego/Downtown
San Diego Balboa Park Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/San_Diego/Balboa_Park
San Diego/La Jolla Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/La_jolla
San Diego/Del Mar Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Del_Mar
San Diego/Coronado Wikitravel Website: http://wikitravel.org/en/Coronado,_USA
Kathy Painter - Sept 2011:
I travel to the San Diego area frequently and it is a great place. in addition to the downtown area, Coronado Island and sea port village (all easily reached by trolley or bus) I like to travel up to Del Mar to Torrey Pines beach. It is a GREAT walking beach and during low tide you can walk south to blacks beach or north to dog beach. There is also a great hike up Torrey Pines from the beach where you can take several paths on top and also hike back down to the beach. It is a good hike up and a good hike down - really recommend it. You can take the red bus 992 (Map: http://www.sdmts.com/mtscr/Route.aspx?r=992 ) (Public Transportation Websites: http://www.sdmts.com/ and http://sdcommute.com/ ) from the airport to the trolley station downtown for $5 and ride all day. The trolley runs to Fashion Valley and other shopping areas as well as close to sea port village where you can take the ferry to Coronado (Ferry Website: http://www.sdhe.com/coronado-ferry ). Sea port village (Website: http://www.coronadoferrylandingshops.com/ ) is a great place to walk from east downtown area all the way out past the airport - you can also rent bikes to do this. The harbor tours are nice also. Another favorite place is LaJolla. It is a very relaxing day to set up on the grass bluffs (Lajolla cove south) walk down to the tide pools or beaches. Website: http://www.carolmendelmaps.com/walking-tours/la-jolla/index.html . Great to watch the surfers at "hospital rock" . The water is just the most beautiful blue. Snorkeling in the cove, or LaJolla Shores you can rent kayaks. Always something going on there. Seal watching is always fun and occasionally whale sightings. Unfortunalty the trolley doesn't run up there but its a short drive (about 20-25 minute) from the airport north on I-5.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Summers - September 2008:
San Diego is a great one, two, or three day city to visit. Even on a one-day trip renting a car is easy. You can start your trip by heading to Coronado Island (map: http://maps.yahoo.com/index.php?ard=1&q1=Coronado%2C%20CA#mvt=m&lat=32.686493&lon=-117.165294&zoom=14&q1=Coronado%2C%20CA ) by driving south on I-5 to State Highway 75 over the high and narrow bridge to the island. Here's some information about the island (Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronado,_California ). The Hotel de Coronado is a nice destination to check out (Website: http://www.hoteldel.com/ ), but I wouldn't stay there unless you have money to burn. To get there you turn left on Orange Avenue after crossing the bridge to the island. There are many nice restaurants along Orange Avenue that you can visit for breakfast or lunch (Website: http://www.sandiegocoastlife.com/dining/san-diego-coast/dining-orange-avenue.html ). From Orange Street, head back the way you came toward the Bridge, but stay on Orange Avenue and head on over to First Avenue. There are many shops along First along with a very nice view of downtown San Diego from across the water of the Bay (Website: http://www.coronadovisitorcenter.com/CVC/index.html ). Once you've done your visit to Coronado head back to San Diego and travel along Harbor Drive. You'll want to visit the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier (Website: http://www.midway.org/ ). There are also other boats nearby that you can also pay to visit. One of my favorite chain restaurants has a site just south of the Midway; it's called the Fish Market (website: http://www.thefishmarket.com/locations.aspx?id=6 ). Sit outside on the deck while waiting for a table and watch a variety of ships sail by. You'll also want to visit the San Diego Zoo (Website: http://www.sandiegozoo.org/ ) and Sea World (Website: http://www.seaworld.com/sitepage.aspx?PageID=354&utm_source=msn&utm_medium=ppc&utm_term=sea%20world%20san%20diego&utm_campaign=sea-brandresidenttp_seaworldsandiego-exact ). Each of these two places will take four to six hours to visit. If it's baseball season, the San Diego Padres stadium is in the downtown area (Website: http://sandiego.padres.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=sd ). Near the ballpark is 5th Avenue, which is also called the Gaslamp District of San Diego, which has many restaurants. It's located near the Convention Center and the baseball stadium. Here's two websites for the Gaslamp District: http://gaslamp.org/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaslamp_Quarter,_San_Diego . Toward evening, head to Old Town San Diego (Website: http://www.oldtownsandiegoguide.com/ ), which is the Moore Street exit going north on I-5 and have some great Mexican food at the Cafe Coyote y Cantina (Website: http://www.cafecoyoteoldtown.com/ ). You can also visit the original San Diego Mission by walking around and burning off calories. (Map: http://www.oldtownsandiegoguide.com/09updates/_09webimages/09_mapweb.pdf ). Here's a tourist guide website for other San Diego points of interest (Website: http://www.sdnn.com/sandiego/tourist-guide ). North of Old Town on Interstate 5 is the boutique-lined streets of La Jolla (Website: http://lajollabythesea.com/ ). There are usually some sea-lions on the rocks near the beach and many nice restaurants. We enjoyed eating at The Spot Restaurant (Website: http://www.thespotonline.com/ ) on Prospect Street. We also sat upstairs above Prospect Beach at the Prospect Bar and Grill, which had a couple of fire pits and live music on Friday nights (Website: http://www.prospectbar.com ). It had a nice view of the Pacific Ocean. Here's some walking tour information for the beaches below:
http://www.carolmendelmaps.com/walking-tours/la-jolla/index.html . Farther north from La Jolla on Interstate 5 is the Torrey Pines State Reserve. It's a great place to walk along the beach with 100 foot cliffs behind you (Websites: http://www.torreypine.org/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrey_Pines_State_Park ). There are other parts to the reserve, but I recommend this area for a walk. To get there, go north of San Diego on Interstate 5, exit on Carmel Valley Road and drive west for about 1.5 miles till you reach the Coast Highway 1. Turn left and proceed along the beach for about a mile. The park entrance is on your right just before the highway begins to climb the Torrey Pines grade. Walk south along the beach and enjoy the views! The beach sand is hard-packed (like Daytona Beach, FL) and is easy to walk on for a couple of miles. From Torrey Pines you'll want to drive north on Highway 1 into the nice beach town of Del Mar (Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Mar,_California ) where there are some great beaches. The beach between 18th and 29th Street along Coast Blvd is great (Map: http://maps.yahoo.com/index.php?ard=1&q1=Coronado%2C%20CA#mvt=m&lat=32.689383&lon=-117.177825&zoom=14&q1=Coronado%2C%20CA ). If it's racing season, you'll want to visit the historic Del Mar Thoroughbred Racetrack (Websites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Del_Mar_Racetrack and http://www.dmtc.com/live/ ). Here's how to bet on horses: http://www.ultimatecapper.com/how-to-bet-on-horses.htm and http://www.ildado.com/horse_racing_rules.html . I like Quinella Box betting. North of Del Mar on Interstate 5 near Carlsbad is LegoLand. To get there take Interstate 5 North to Cannon Road East, turn right at LegoLand Drive and follow signs to LegoLand. I think LegoLand is great for kids or grandkids between the ages of five and twelve. It's expensive, but worth one trip to see the Lego creations and rides (Website: http://california.legoland.com/ ). Lastly, San Diego is a great place to do some whale watching from December through March. Here's a website for whalewatching in San Diego: http://sandiego.about.com/cs/familyfun/a/whale_watch.htm . San Diego is a great place to visit with many things to do for kids of all ages. I hope these ideas help you as you visit a beautiful city.
Enjoy!
Mike Summers
Marsha Morris - March 2007:
SeaWorld: Through April (Website: http://www.sandieg0.com/seaworld-san-diego-ticket-deals ) if you buy a single day ticket at $56 it is good for the rest of the year, with the exception of Memorial Day and Labor Day. This is a fun day trip. As for food, I recommend the following restaurants near downtown and the Gaslamp District. For Nachos and Beer head to the Beer Co at 602 Broadway (Website: http://thebeerco.net/ ). For Irish drinks and music go to Dublin Square Irish Pub at 554 4th Avenue (Website: http://www.dublinsquareirishpub.com/ ). If you want a great breakfast, I recommend Brian's 24 at 828 Sixth Ave (Website: http://www.brians24.com/ ). It's open 24/7. So, you can visit for lunch and dinner too. Another nice place is Magnolia Tap & Kitchen (Website: http://magnoliasd.com/ ) with great food and a good selection of drinks; it's at 6th and E Streets. Mission Beach and Pacific Beach are near downtown and connected to each other by a nice 4 mile concrete sidewalk/bikeway (Websites:
http://www.sandiego.org/what-to-do/beaches/mission-beach.aspx and http://www.sandiego.org/what-to-do/beaches/pacific-beach.aspx ). When you're done hop in your car and drive five minutes to Bay Park Fish Company 4121 Ashton Street (right next to the 5) and enjoy some great sushi or fish tacos (Website: http://www.bayparkfishco.com/ ). The happy hour menu (in bar only) is pretty good. From here, it's about a 15 minute drive to the airport. Have fun in San Diego!
Teri Henry - April 2007:
Great tip Marsha! I checked and you can purchase this ticket on line. So you can get the one day annual pass now even if you can't get there due to the crazy spring schedule.
Elizabeth Nance - August 2008:
San Diego was one of the easiest cities I have ever been to. We non-reved into San Diego, walked out the terminal doors, and immediately took the Airport Bus 992 (992 Schedule: http://www.sdmts.com/mtscr/Route.aspx?r=992 ) to Broadway and 3rd. (Public Transportation Website: http://www.sdmts.com/ ). The Mint Thai Restaurant (Website: http://www.mintsdthai.com/ ) is a yummy place for lunch or dinner. It's downtown at 732 Fourth Avenue. The 992 route takes you past the harbor and into the heart of San Diego within 5-10 minutes. San Diego would be perfect for a day trip! You could even catch an afternoon Padres Baseball game and still be home that night.
We then took the 30 Bus north (30 Schedule: http://www.sdmts.com/mtscr/Route.aspx?r=30 ) and (Public Transportation Website: http://www.sdmts.com/ ) to Pacific Beach and got off at Grand and Mission. This trip took about 30 minutes. Then we walked one block to the Pacific Beach Boardwalk and two blocks south to reach our hostel, The Banana Bungalow. (http://www.bananabungalowsandiego.com/index.html) This hostel was right on the beach with a patio that looked over the ocean. It was a pretty huge surfer-bum scene but everyone was nice and we actually took surf lessons from one of the employees. I wouldn’t call it a “family scene” but everyone else seemed welcome and had fun. Also, there is a Trader Joes (the best grocery store ever) about 10 blocks up the road and we walked there every evening to buy supplies for dinner. We cooked in the guest kitchen and ate on the ocean-view patio. It was a good, relaxing vacation. We were pretty far from the sites but all we wanted was a beach to walk on and an ocean to swim in so this was our place. There was a really nice micro-brewery restaurant with an upstairs patio and a view of the ocean. It was only a block away and we went one night for happy hour.
Our private room had a bathroom, two bunk beds, and a fridge but there were also dorm rooms. The wireless internet was really fast and the staff was friendly. However, you might want to provide your own breakfast since the hostel only provided white bread and jam.
Also, there were several hotels and beach cottages within blocks of this hostel if the hostel scene isn’t your thing.
We have bus route maps of San Diego if anyone is interested.
Gary Graham - June 2012:
Went to SAN to play a few days last week. Found a great deal at the Sheraton Spa and Marina on Harbor Island, just off the airport. Once you arrive at SAN, go to the Sheraton San Diego Spa and Marina website, and 'pre-pay' your room, in either the Marina or the Bay Towers. Prepaying the rooms saves almost $100 per night (price if you prepay is $86/nite, versus $179/nite regular rate)...all of the rooms face the water and have beautiful views of the water. We stayed in the Bay Tower, but the Marina Tower is the newer one. It is a 4-star property and really convenient to downtown, etc. TIME TO GO PLAY!!!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Mike Summers - November 2013:
We did a quick trip to visit the San Diego Zoo (Website: http://www.sandiegozoo.org/zoo/index.php ) . It's best to rent a car instead of trying to take public transportation to the zoo even though it's a short 4-5 mile drive from the airport. I used my AAA card for a $4.00 discount per ticket at the zoo. The Zoo is quite hilly. I'd recommend first taking the free 30-35 minute bus tour that takes you around the grounds. It's a double-decker bus; a lot of people prefer the top level. We managed to visit every major area in our one day visit and still get back to the airport for the return 7:00 PM flight. Of course, there's a lot to do in San Diego. So, don't feel rushed to leave.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike Webster- January 2014
I did a day trip to enjoy the 80* weather instead of 46* and a must do is Lucha Libre taco shop. It was featured on Man vs. Food but don't worry no challenge here, just an awesome burrito. The best one is called the surfin' California burrito and has carne asada, shrimp and french fries. Here's some more on it
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60750-d1018217-Reviews-Lucha_Libre_Gourmet_Taco_Shop-San_Diego_California.html
My cousin woks at the Air and Space museum in Balboa Park and it's pretty cool. It's not the biggest but they have some good quality exhibits. http://www.sandiegoairandspace.org/
I think the posts above outline so many great things and you can do something new every time but one of our favorite things to do when we lived there was go on a harbor cruise. http://www.hornblower.com/home/sd. You can do a full harbor or they split it. It's cool to go along and see all the navy ships and even a submarine in dry dock.
There is also the maritime museum which has the Star of India which is the oldest active wooden sail ship in the world, it's something to check out for sure. http://www.sdmaritime.org/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------